Central Park Sketch
by znk99fg7
Summary: Thea Dubois hadn't planned on any of this happening. She hadn't planned on witnessing a violent crime and been placed in witness protection. She hadn't planned on getting relocated to NYC and she certainly hadn't planned on having hot crazy monkey sex with a man who had the shoulder to hip ratio of a dorito and an ass you could bounce a quarter off of. StevexOFC


**Chapter One**

"Lucy. Lucy. _Are you listening?_"

Thea Dubois came out of her trance. She'd been staring at the yellowish stain on the small motel room wall. She blinked and looked blankly at the man stood before her.

"Who's Lucy?"

"You are!" The US Marshal answered tersely.

US Marshal Williams had been lecturing her on her new identity for the best part of an hour now. However, given that Thea had been extracted from her first safe location less than 24 hours ago after the previous US Marshal, one US Marshal McBride, the one who had been handling her safety, had been found tortured, with a bullet in his brain, Marshal Williams might as well of been talking to the wall Thea had been staring at.

McBride had been her first port of call when entering the Witness Protection Program just over a month ago. He'd talked her through the transitions that would be taking place, the procedures going on concerning her and the protocols being put in place to keep her safe until she could testify in court. Even though Thea had felt more fear than she had ever felt before in her entire life, Marshal McBride assured her the system was bulletproof - and then had promptly apologised for that specific turn of phrase while gesturing to her arm that then still been bandaged and in a sling.

Her first location was a medium sized town in central California. Not too small, not too big; not too flashy; not too bland and not too connected to her and not to unconnected to her. The real Goldilocks of towns. McBride promised her she would be safe there. She had memorised her new identity by heart and if asked, could have recited it to him backwards word for word. This identity would shield her from anyone looking for her. That identity, Emma Shepherd, had kept her "safe" for precisely 23 and a half days. On the 23rd day, a team of Marshals had extracted her after McBride's murder, fearing she may have been compromised. Emma Shepherd's life was then wiped clean from the map within the ensuing hour.

Thea was in Philadelphia now. Stuck in a dingy motel room, the frayed edges of her mind trying to work out how she was supposed to once again start over. Plain-clothed Marshals were patrolling the nearby area and two were posted outside her room. Marshal Williams had met her yesterday when she got off the plane. The plane had actually been one of many, perhaps three or four, Thea wasn't exactly sure as the whole previous day had passed in a blur, but she knew each plane had landed in a different city located across the country.

Thea blinked again, coming out of her reverie. Marshall Williams was looking at her expectantly.

"Um… Can you run that by me again?"

The only indication that Williams was annoyed was a slight twitch from a muscle in his jaw. He cleared his throat.

"You are now Lucy Cavanaugh. You-"

"Cava-what? How do I even spell that?!"

Rational thoughts weren't exactly in abundance inside Thea's mind recently. However Marshal Williams continued regardless.

"You'll learn. Lucy Cavanaugh. Full name, Lucy Francis Cavanaugh. You were born on the 4th of June 1988, in Weskon, Louisiana to Adam and April Jeffersons who were a primary school teacher and a housewife, respectively. You, yourself, graduated your local high school and went to community college to study Tourism and Hospitality. You-"

"What? None of that is even remotely plausible! I'm a vet and I've never even been to-"

"Lucy Cavanaugh has." Marshal Williams cut her off quickly. He gave her a look that made Thea decide to not interrupt him again. "You are now Lucy Cavanaugh, ergo, this life is yours and has always been. As I was saying… You didn't finish the course and dropped out half way through. You do not have a passport as you have never been abroad. You also do not speak any other language apart from English."

"But-but… That's… Please, I-" Thea didn't know where she was going with this, or what she was pleading for. Pleading for the clock to be wound back? Pleading for the shattered pieces of her comfy life put back together again?

"Lucy," Marshal Williams softened slightly, coming to sit next to her on the bed and ignored Thea's visible grimace at her new name. "This new life and identity has been carefully crafted for you. You can do this."

Thea didn't quite believe she could. Not again. "I don't know anything about Tourism and, um and, the other thing."

"Hospitality."

"Yeah, that," she said weakly.

"Like last time, you have materials to study before we move you to your new safe location."

Thea put her face in her hands. If Williams thought she was about to start crying, he was mistaken. She'd cried all her tears on the planes getting here. Tears of fear because her life was in danger due to the $250,000 bounty on her head; tears that her old life now lay in ruins and even though the Marshals were confident that with her testimony, the case stood a good chance, Thea knew there was still the possibility that she might never go back home; tears for the sheer amount of helplessness she felt at her situation; tears for Marshal McBride and his poor family and finally, tears just because she couldn't stop them. Thea was all cried out.

"Last time, I was told I would be safe." The words she uttered were harsh, but Thea didn't care, she was angry. "Why should I trust the Marshals again?"

This time Marshall Williams' jaw visibly tightened and he stood up from the bed. He turned to face her, waiting until she raised her head to look at him before he spoke.

"Because you are out of options. If you choose to refuse our protection and return home, you will be dead by nightfall. You know this."

"I could go back to Europe. Disappear over there. I speak French and Italian fluently and know enough of the other Mediterranean languages to get by." Thea was hopeful. Yes, that sounded like a better plan than this Lucy Cavanaugh business.

Marshal Williams narrowed his eyes slightly. "Though cases where people are retained as material witnesses are not that frequent, it is a possibility."

He wanted to scare her. Thea knew that. "My plan to go to Europe sounds a lot better."

"Lucy-"

"_Thea._"

"You should trust the Marshals because Thea Dubois doesn't stand a chance on her own - even in Europe. The people you are testifying against are powerful, their reach extends well beyond the borders of the United States. By now they will know as much about you as I do."

"You know nothing about me." Thea wanted to go to Europe. In Europe she would be safe.

"I know that your full name is Thea Persephone Dubois. You were born on the 17th of April 1989 to Paola Dubois. Paola was half French, half Italian, a museum curator and held a PhD in Classical Civilisation. Throughout your childhood you traveled with her across the Mediterranean, hence your ability to communicate in several of the languages found in those parts. At 16, you were granted special selection to university to study Veterinary Medicine in the USA. You also minored in Drama and Acting. You have a talent for accents, which will come in handy given that your dialects from the Mediterranean come through quite strongly when you speak English. Your mother passed on three years ago."

Thea shifted uncomfortably. "Well, that's not that hard to know."

Marshal Williams continued though. "Though your birth certificate does not state your father's name and you never met the man, your mother told you he was American."

Thea swallowed. That was a little unnerving. She could count the number of people on one hand who she had told that particular fact to.

"Furthermore, you right broke your arm as a child when you were hit by a scooter in Rome. You are a highly skilled veterinarian but even after several years in practice, cats still make you nervous." Shit. The cat thing was something Thea hadn't told a soul. "Your best friend's name is Caroline and she works as a journalist. Most recently she has been posted out in Beijing. You love films, but hate horror. Comedies are good, but old westerns are your favourite. If they're black and white, even better. You're an avid reader and have read all of the famous texts from the Classical world. You love the smell of bookshops and it is not uncommon for you to spend a whole afternoon in one on your day off. The last person you dated was a man called Matthew King and the relationship ended after he drunkenly tried to force himself on you. Oh, and your favourite animal is an elephant."

Thea sat there, shell-shocked. Granted he knew details that others knew, but the more intricate pieces of her life - how in the world did he know so many of those?

"How did I do?"

He knew damn well how he did and Thea hated him for it. She hated him for that fact that he knew she didn't have a choice. Still, she wouldn't let him believe he had won that easily.

"Caroline was posted in Hong Kong." She knew she sounded childish, but that small act of defiance felt good.

Marshal Williams stood a little straighter. Thea thought he was perhaps sizing her up.

"You also hate spicy food." That was his coup de grace, and it worked. "So, what's it going to be? Thea Dubois or Lucy Cavanaugh?"

Thea swallowed hard. Her chest was starting to feel tight and even after crying for hours yesterday, she could feel the telltale prick of tears at the corners of her eyes.

"Lucy." She answered dejectedly, head hung. "Where are you sending me this time?"

"New York City."


End file.
